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November 1, 2021

  • November 1, 2021
  • 4:00 p.m.
  • Eric Jacques, Ph.D., Virginia Tech
  • Faculty Host: Greg Young

Abstract: An explosive is a highly energetic solid, gaseous, or liquid substance that has extremely fast rates of reaction. The chemical reactions are initiated by a compression shock that propagates through the explosive at supersonic speed as a detonation wave. Most, but not all, of the heat and gas released from these reactions occurs in a narrow reaction zone as the combustion byproducts expand into final burnt products. Enhanced explosives are manufactured by admixing reactive metal powders (e.g., alloys of aluminum, boron, silicon, magnesium, and other elements) with the explosive crystals to increase the total heat output and control the working fluid. The working fluid produced by explosives can be used for a diverse range of civilian and military applications, including construction, mining, aerospace, defense, and security. The purpose of this talk is twofold: first, it will describe the detonation wave, explain the interaction of chemistry and physics that command the initiation, propagation, and performance of the detonation process, and provide a summary of common tests used to establish the detonation parameters. Then, these insights will be used to better understand the destructive effects that explosions can have on soft targets and hardened structures, show how large-scale testing has provided useful solutions to enhancing blast protection, and to indicate future directions of research. Results of large-scale detonation tests performed at the Virginia Tech Shock Tube Research Facility will be described to highlight recent research in the areas of detonation science and blast resilience.

Bio: Dr. Eric Jacques, Ph.D., P.Eng., is an Assistant Professor of structural engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. He is the Director of the Shock Tube Research Facility, equipped with the largest academic blast simulator in the United States. His research area is in the area of extreme engineering, spanning infrastructure resilience, blast protection, and energetic materials. His current work focuses on detonation-based combustion of heterogenous metal particle-gas mixtures. He received a 2021 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award and was a recipient of the 2021 Virginia Tech College of Engineering Certificate of Teaching Excellence.